As social media continues to grow, brands are using a variety of marketing techniques to sell their products and messages. A particularly popular method is brand storytelling which is simply brands using traditional storytelling to share their core values and outshine the competition. Here are 10 examples of brand storytelling.
1.Dove: Real Beauty
Dove’s mission to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence rather than anxiety takes the form of an inspiring social experiment turned viral video that shows the difference between how women view their own beauty in contrast to what others see.
2.TOMS: Facebook Milestones and #IAMTOM
TOMS Shoes uses Facebook and Twitter to open up and highlight its company’s practices as well as spread the #IAMTOM message. TOMS campaign is aimed to show consumers that those who shop consciously, volunteer wholeheartedly, and work to raise awareness for important issues across the world is a part of their organization. Basically, everyone can be TOM.
3. Dodge: Ron Burgundy
With a little help from Anchorman star and “Doge Man” Will Ferrell, Dodge was able to boost sales for the Durango by 40 percent. Playing his over-the-top character, Ron Burgundy, in over 70 spots for the brand, Ferrell connected the Durango to his popular movie and single-handedly changed buyers’ minds about the SUV.
4.GoPro: Be a Hero
GoPro’s product lends itself especially well to brand storytelling, allowing the company to easily compile videos to inform consumers about its mission and history. The brand shares inspiring and empowering videos and encourages consumers to go out and “Be a Hero.”
5. Guinness: #MadeOfMore
To live up to being the “different” beer of choice, Guinness has spread the hashtag #MadeOfMore and introduced an impactful ad that shows a group of friends playing wheelchair basketball. The video reveals that the players, like Guinness, are made of more for playing the game in wheelchairs, though only one of them requires the use of one.
6. Adidas: #MyGirls
Adidas started the “All in for #MyGirls” campaign to support and celebrate female athletes on International Women’s Day, after which it initiated massive amounts of content across social media encouraging women to share stories of sportswomen across the world. Eventually, it launched the #MyGirls Online Magazine which has high production values and features stories about female athletes around the world who participate in a variety of sports.
Have you met our #mygirls in South Africa yet? Major soccer skills and even cooler style: http://t.co/uymzs0tnH4 pic.twitter.com/swP6NujL6f
— adidas Women (@adidasWomen) July 7, 2014
7. Duracell Canada: Moments of Warmth In a heartfelt response to the brutal Polar Vortex winter, Duracell Canada set up heated bus shelters in Canada that could only be powered through the connection between two or three people touching either side of the shelter and holding hands in the middle. Through this, the brand shows its value of human connection, a generosity towards its consumers and brilliant creativity when it comes to marketing.
8. KFC: #HowDoYouKFC Following video blog (vlog) style commercials for the brand, the hashtag #HowDoYouKFC is now growing across all social media sites, allowing consumers to personalize the brand and initiating new perspectives on the theme. KFC even released a YouTube video in which its chicken is used in a corsage that started a similar trend in consumer social media posts.
9. Chipotle: The Scarecrow Chipotle’s ad (though more of a short film), The Scarecrow, was introduced as a companion to its app-based game. The video follows a sad scarecrow living in a processed food dystopia that aspires to turn his small garden into a growing farm. The video quickly went viral for its heartfelt and introspective message, leading to more than 11.6 million views on YouTube, more than 12,000 Facebook posts, and more than 31,000 tweets from more than 26,000 unique users — for a total of 126 million impressions.
10. UNICEF: Facebook Milestones UNICEF expertly uses its Facebook page to not only spread the word of its important causes, but to update users on the company’s progress, activities, and messages from ambassadors. The page is full of hashtags for related causes as well as images of UNICEF members making a difference in the world. This gives users a deep look into the way their time, money and effort is impacting life across the globe.
